Minutes 06/04/2007

MARICOPA COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
GOVERNING BOARD
JUNE 4, 2007
MINUTES

A retreat was scheduled to be held at 8:00 a.m. in the Rio Conference Center at Rio Salado College in Tempe, Arizona, pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.02, notice having been duly given.

PRESENT

GOVERNING BOARD
Linda Rosenthal, President
Don Campbell, Secretary
Colleen Clark, Member (part of day)
Scott Crowley, Member
Jerry Walker, Member (late)

ADMINISTRATION
Rufus Glasper
Maria Harper-Marinick
Debra Thompson
Darrel Huish
Steve Helfgot
Albert Crusoe
Anna Solley
Pete Kushibab
Mary Kay Kickels
Ken Atwater
Art DeCabooter
Augustine Gallego
Gene Giovannini
Velvie Green
Maria Hesse
Ernie Lopez
Gloria Smith

Attendance: 25 people

RETREAT (8:05 a.m. through 4:55 p.m.)

Governing Board President Linda Rosenthal welcomed those in attendance to this Governing Board/CEC Retreat on Public Stewardship and Institutional Ethics.

Chancellor Rufus Glasper approached the podium next with a warm welcome to this first ethics session. He commented that it had indeed been a challenging year where a number of items came to pass, earmarking this as a transition year for the Maricopa Community College District. It has become apparent that the district as a whole needs to become more comprehensive and as we go through this journey, the topic of ethics arises and there is a need to demonstrate to the public our attention to good stewardship. He reminded everyone that the ethics journey was first addressed back in 1999. Although we are not unlike any other system, we are in state of transition. In 1999 we had 125,000 students and now we have more than 250,000 students enrolled and an employee count of over 11,000 people. There was a time when we knew everyone’s names but that is no longer the case as we continue to grow. We need to demonstrate to others that we walk the talk. Our system is in very good shape. We have moved forth in many different ways. There is a pressure to monitor numbers and as we look at results, we question if looking at numbers has been a negative thing. As we look at our charges, we see that we need to align policies with practices. Stewardship has to be something done by everyone. How do we present ourselves in the community? We need to rebuild the trust and synergy. Now that we are at a point where we need to rebuild, we need to look at being a model for others, being honest, forthright, engaged, consistent and reliable.

Dr. Glasper proceeded to introduce Tim DeLaney, Esq., President of the Center for Leadership, Ethics & Public Service, an independent nonprofit. Before founding this Center, Mr. DeLaney served as a partner in a multi-state law firm, Solicitor General of Arizona and Chief Deputy Attorney General. He is a graduate of Yale, the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and the University of Texas Law School and also serves as an adjunct professor at ASU’s School of Public Affairs.

Mr. DeLaney came forward and explained that the day’s training would rigorous. He asked that participants identify which group (5) they represented and gather in the various corners. There were five Board Members, nine College Presidents, three staff members, five Vice Chancellors, and one Chancellor. After this was in place he requested that everyone comment on why these areas were important to the operations of the district. Comments ranged as follows:

Board:

Vice Chancellors

Staff

Presidents

Chancellor

Mr. Delaney then posed the question as to whether one group alone could run the district since all parts are needed. In that case, he asked that participants remove their nametags and location designations. There would be no titles during the day as everyone would be working collectively and all would be equal.

The next activity included having those that headed up something go to the front of the room. The rest would go to the back. Next, Mr. DeLaney requested that people align themselves according to longevity with the Maricopa Community College District. The following represents how people lined up:

Mr. DeLaney commented that prior to this retreat he had spoken to a friend about Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, renowned author of the book “On Death and Dying” and had mentioned he would be conducting this training. The person immediately spoke up and mentioned that Kubler-Ross had gotten her start at Phoenix College, where she also taught. It is important that if people are proud of the District, they need to channel this pride to the public.

It is important to begin with the end in mind. The agenda for the day would consist of discussing the following elements as they pertained to public stewardship and institutional ethics:

Because we don’t learn all the ethics we need from our mothers or the church, it is important to engage in the study of ethics. The only rules that would apply for this day of learning would be

The Context – Headlines of the Millennium
Participants were asked to move their chairs in such a way that they could view the timeline posted on the wall. This timeline dated back to the days of when the Hohokam Indian Tribe built channels for the life-sustaining water that is brought into the Arizona district. Included in the timeline were important dates pertaining to the formation and growth of the Maricopa Community Colleges. These included:

Mr. DeLaney commented that he saw a lot of optimism for the district. Lots of people from the outside are bring in new ideas and new perspectives. There are 12,000 employees serving students. The storm clouds can wash away negative things. 76% of voters believe in MCCCD. This group gets to decide what to do with wide open space before us. He spoke about the “Janus affect”, the mythological god with two faces looking in opposite directions – one looking forward and one looking backward. In similar fashion, Maricopa needs to look at the past to get to the future. Need to keep perspective on employees, students and the public. There is also a need to maintain a relationship with the media. We need to articulate positive side of what we do.

The Broad Context in Which We Operate A- Z:

Constant barrage of stories. All scandals. What’s it doing to us? How can we protect ourselves? What are the common themes? Greed. Every great country has fallen. Are we entering the last stage? Lack of oversight and judgment. Patterns of behavior. Individuals are doing this and there is no oversight. Rules don’t apply to them. People put themselves above the law. Entitlement is the attitude. Common patterns include:

We have to recognize inconsistent application of rules. Need to make sure we are enforcing rules. Need to make sure we are enforcing rules and not burying our heads in the sand. People at the top have had their head buried in the sand.

MCCD is a major entity where there is loyalty to the team and individual desires. There is loyalty to the community, a team and individual desires. Commnity desires must come first..

There are external cycles of a scandal; patterns and cycles. The Blue Ribbon Panel provided recommendation and recommendations. What does is look like from the inside? Can we take Kubler-Ross’s principles on death and dying and apply them to MCCCD?

Mr. Delaney had participants break up into groups to discuss these principles. Follow up comments included:

People are concerned about the health of the organization.
As leaders, there is a need to lead people out
In the election of 2004, who was the winner? Which issues were extremely important?

Arizona’s new Governor on January 1, 2007 declared that her first acts would be ethics standards.

Americans have little confidence in leaders. Seven out of ten agree there is a leadership problem. There is even less confidence in education and local public leaders. Context: Americans feel that if you want ethics from them you must first model it. 77% of people cite this. You must be consistent. You must walk the talk. At the University of Texas every undergraduate must take a course in ethics. In May 2007, Harvard instituted a course in ethical reasoning. How many courses does MCCCD have on their campuses on ethics. What are Americans looking for? Participants were asked to complete their views on the goldenrod sheet listing values important to them in order of importance. Upon completion, they were asked to list their top seven and then top form which were to be posted on the wall signs. This group’s top four were:

People look to leaders to model the way (father orientation). Those that are highly educated rank competence high. The number #1 job of a leader is to be trustworthy. There are split views about how people are viewed: Values-based (people are good) – internal controls and rules-based (people get tempted) – external controls. Need to blend views and have it have integrity approach/compliance approach. People want honesty from their leadership.

According to the pyramid of ethical standards, there are four sets of ethics that exist.

The core values that MCCCD endorses must be based on solid grounding. Members of an organization need to know what is regarded as acceptable and what is not. Can the organization afford to have its members guess what its standards are? Need to follow the Goldilocks’ approach – not too much, not too little, but just right.

What is public stewardship? What is institutional ethics? Do employees know what these terms mean? Is the organization so big that it is too hard to navigate. Need to simplify public service laws. Page 16-17 speak about public service ethics laws. These can be divided up into three different categories: public rights; public resources; public information. Do employees understand they are public employees with accountability to the public? Public rights include having employees know that they are there to serve the public and that there will be no self-dealing or conflicts of interest or gifts. Public Resources include the monies and personal property. Public Information includes the open meeting law, public records law, and confidential laws pertaining to student information and health information. How serious a problem is political corruption? 88% of the public think that political corruption is very serious. If one person does something wrong, it affects everyone. There must be no self-dealing or conflict of interest. You cannot wear two hats at the same time. If there is any doubt, need to disclose that there is a conflict. A person must disqualify themselves if they cannot pass the headline test or statutory test. There is debate over degree of infraction and inconsistency with punishment over policy violations. Whistleblower laws protest the people. Can be called attention without retaliation. It is illegal to take actions of reprisals against employees that speak out.

Societal/Organizational Standards:

Mr. DeLaney explained that people should always let their conscious be their guide. They should not think that ethics is achieved by magic because this creates havoc. Discussion on this topic included having participants provide an example of something symbolic of an ethical principle. These included:

Levels of Ethical Standards – Public’s Resources

Mr. DeLaney reminded everyone that public’s monies are only for public purposes and may not be given away. Always ask if it is being done the right way. Public’s personnel do things for the public, not other employees. With public procurement, don’t do anything illegally. Any gathering of the public body is subject to posting under public’s information rights. Open records laws fall under pubic records. All records are open unless they invade someone’s privacy, are in the best interest of the state, or fall under statutory provisions.

No pornography may be obtained using the public’s resources. There must be consistent oversight. Faculty especially concerned about being accountable. There is concern abut how to work with fear about violations. What is the difference between willful versus ignorant?. People don’t like change. The process by which the bar was raised is being questioned. MCCCD has never been dictated to. Some employees make it their job to create confusion. These people are not being evil. They are people who like to test where the line is and how flexible it is. Dr. Elsner’s legacy was the ten individual colleges doing their own thing. No mandates before but this is an opportunity to put forth a mandate. There must be approval of a President by the Chancellor and Board. What is the mission? What’s best for the community? Do what is appropriate. Enrollment irregularities should be looked at. Do not cook the books to make the numbers look good. Need to look at system processes in place. Internal controls keep people honest.

Professional Ethics Standards

We’ve got to own our inner core by slowing down. Reconnect with who you are. Draft your own code of ethics. You cannot lead others until you know yourself.

Three practical tools for ethical decision making. Walk the talk. It starts with you. Most effective ethical tool is an empty chair. Fill it with someone different and run your decision by the person who would sit in that empty chair. Language matters. Ethics is boring and threatening. Ethics is unnecessary. Call it “Public Stewardship” Orientation or Leadership Training. Components to a responsible ethics program: clear standards; meaningful integration; provide assistance in ethics audits; goal is not just compliance but also culture; visible; fair, enforcement; pretty words are not enough. Ethics has to be 24/7. You cannot become complacent. Core training targets executives who think they are above it all. Don’t ignore entry level or more experienced. Everybody matters. For training replace traditional with relevant. Timing is everything. Implement before crisis hits.77% of people say they are looking to you to model the way.

Message needs to be consistent throughout district.

Closing Comments: How to best roll this out: Board has set expectations that assume everyone will take this stewardship training. How should it be rolled out?

ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 4:55 p.m.

———————————
Dr. Donald R. Campbell
Governing Board Secretary